Becoming of Great Britain

Unity between Picts, Scots and Britons was achieved for several reasons. They all shared a common Celtic culture, language and background. Their economy mainly depended on keeping animals. These animals were owned by the tribe as a whole, and for this reason land was also held by tribes, not by individual people. The common economic system increased their feeling of belonging to the same king of society and the feeling of difference from the agricultural Lowlands. The sense of common culture may have been increased by marriage alliances between tribes. This idea of common landholding remained strong until the tribes of Scotland, called "clans", collapsed in the eighteenth century.

The spread of Celtic Christianity also helped to unite the people. The first Christian mission to Scotland in about AD 400. Later, in 563, Columba, known as the "Dove of the Church", came from Ireland. Through his work both Highland Scots and Picts were brought to Christianity. He even, so it is said, defeated a monster in Loch Ness, the first mention of this famous creature. By the time of the Synod of Whitby in 663, the Picts, Scots, and Britons had all been brought closer together by Christianity.

The Angles were very different from the Celts. They had arrived in Britain in family groups, but they soon began to accept authority from people outside their own family. This was partly due to their way of life. Although they kept some animals, they spent more time growing crops. This meant that land was held by individual people, each man working in his own field. Land was distributed for farming by the local lord. This system encouraged the Angles of Scotland to develop a non-tribal system of control, as the people of England further south were doing. This increased their feeling of difference from the Celtic tribal Highlanders further north.

Finally, as in Ireland and in Wales, foreign invaders increased the speed of political change. Vikings attacked the coastal areas of Scotland, and they settled on many of the islands, Shetland, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man southwest of Scotland. In order to resist them, Picts and Scots fought together against the enemy raiders and settlers. When they could not push them out of the islands and coastal areas, they had to deal with them politically. At first the Vikings, or "Norsemen", still served the king of Norway. But communications with Norway were difficult. Slowly the earls of Orkney and other areas found it easier to accept the king of Scots as their overlord, rather than the more distant king of Norway.

However, as the Welsh had also discovered, the English were a greater danger than the Vikings. In 934 the Scots were seriously defeated by a Wessex army pushing northwards. The Scots decided to seek the friendship of the English, because of the likely losses from war. England was obviously stronger than Scotland but, luckily for the Scots, both the north of England and Scotland were difficult to control from London. The Scots hoped that if they were reasonably peaceful the Sassenachs, as they called the Saxon (and still call the English), would leave them alone.

Scotland remained a difficult country to rule even from its capital, Edinburgh. Anyone looking at a map of Scotland can immediately see that control of the Highlands and islands was a great problem. Travel was often impossible in winter, and slow and difficult in summer. It was easy for a clan chief or noble to throw off the rule of the king.

The Norman Conquest

William the Conqueror's coronation did not go as planned. When the people shouted "God Save the King" the nervous Norman guard at Westminster Abbey thought they were going to attack William. In their fear they set fire to nearby houses and the coronation ceremony ended in disorder.

Although William was now crowned king, his conquest had only just begun, and the fighting lasted for another five years. There was an Anglo-Saxon rebellion against the Normans every year until 1070. The small Norman army marched from village to village, destroying places it could not control, and building forts to guard others. It was a true army of occupation for at least twenty years. The north was particularly hard to control, and the Norman army had no mercy. When the Saxons fought back, the Normans burnt, destroyed and killed. Between Durham and York not a single house was left standing, and it took a century for the north to recover.

Few Saxon lords kept their lands and those who did were the very small number who had accept William immediately. All the others lost everything. By 1086, twenty years after the arrival of the Normans, only two of the greater landlords and only two bishops were Saxon. William gave the Saxon lands to his Norman nobles. After each English rebellion there was more land to give away. His army included Norman and other French land seekers. Over 4,000 Saxon landlords were replaced by 200 Norman ones.

Feudalism

William was careful in the way he gave land to his nobles. The king of France was less powerful than many of the great landlords, or whom William was the outstanding example. In England, as each new area of land was captured, William gave parts of it as a reward to his captains. This meant that they held separate small pieces of land in different parts of the country so that no noble could easily or quickly gather his fighting men to rebel. William only gave some of his nobles larger estates along the troublesome borders with Wales and Scotland. At the same time he kept enough land for himself to make sure he was much stronger than his nobles. Of all the farmland of England he gave half to the Norman nobles, a quarter to the Church, and kept a fifth himself. He kept the Saxon system of sheriffs, and used these as a balance to local nobles. As a result England was different from the rest of Europe because it had one powerful family, instead of a large number of powerful nobles. William, and the kings after him, thought of England as their personal property.

William organised his English kingdom according to the feudal system which had already begun to develop in England before his arrival. The word "feudalism" comes from the French word feu, which the Normans used to refer to land held in return for duty or service to a lord. The basis of feudal society was the holding of land, and its main purpose was economic. The central idea was that all land was owned by the king but it was held by others, called "vassals", in return for services and goods. The king gave large estates to his main nobles in return for a promise to serve him in war for up to forty days. The nobles also had to give part of the produce of the land. The greater nobles gave part of their lands to lesser nobles, knights, and other "freemen". Some freemen paid for the land by doing military service, while others paid rent. The noble kept "serf" to work on his own land. These were not free to leave the estate, and were often little better than slaves.

There were two basic principles to feudalism: every man had a lord, and every lord had land. The king was connected through this "chain" of people to the lowest man in the country. At each level a man had to promise loyalty and service to his lord. This promise was usually made with the lord sitting on his chair and his vassal kneeling before him, his hands placed between those of his lord. This was called "homage", and has remained part of the coronation ceremony of British kings and queens until now. On the other hand, each lord had responsibilities to his vassals. He had to give them land and protection.

When a noble died his son usually took over his estate. But first he had to receive permission from the king and make a special payment. If he was still a child the king would often take the produce of the state until the boy was old enough to look after the estate himself. In this way the king could benefit from the death of a noble. If all the noble's family died the land went back to the king, who would be expected to give it to another deserving noble. But the king often kept the land for some years, using its wealth, before giving it to another noble.

If the king did not give the nobles land they would not fight for him. Between 1066 and the mid-fourteenth century there were only thirty years of complete peace. So feudal duties were extremely important. The king had to make sure he had enough satisfied nobles who would be willing to fight for him.

William gave our land all over England to his nobles. By 1086 he wanted to know exactly who owned which piece of land, and how much it was worth. He needed this information so that he could plan his economy, find out how much was produced and how much he could ask in tax. He therefore sent a team of people all through England to make a complete economic survey. His men asked all kinds of questions at each settlement: How much land was there? Who owned it? How much was it worth? How many families, ploughs and sheep were there? And so on. This survey was the only one of its kind in Europe. Not surprisingly, it was most unpopular with the people, because they felt they could not escape from its findings. It so reminded them of the paintings of the Day of Judgement, or "doom", on the walls of their churches that they called it the "Domesday" Book. The name stuck. The Domesday Book still exists, and gives us an extraordinary amount of information about England at this time.

QUESTIONS

What do we know about the Iberians and the Beaker people? What traces have their culture left on the face of the land?

What were the major achievements of Celtic civilization?

What part of Britain was latinized during the Roman occupation? How did the Roman way of life influence the life of the Celts? What traces are there of Roman rule in Britain?

Why is the Germanic Conquest one of the governing events in the English history? What was the fate of the Celts as a result of the Anglo-Saxon conquest? What forms of governance and institutions were created by the Anglo-Saxons? How did the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity facilitate the political unity and influence the cultural development of Britain?

What territory of Britain did the Danes manage to conqueur? How did the Danish settlers influence the development of the country in the 10^th-11^th centuries?

What were the reasons and the pretext of the Norman invasion? What were the reasons for the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons at Hastings? What made it possible for William to strengthen his royal power so greatly? What was the Domesday Book? What useful information does it give us about England in the second half of the 11^th century? How did the registration consolidate the position of the Norman conquerors in England?

III. AN OUTLINE OF BRITISH HISTORY

Roman Rule

Spread of Christianity

Reign of Alfred the Great

Norman Conquest of England

Magna Carta and the beginnings of Parliament

The English Reformation

Union of England and Wales

Civil War and the execution of Charles I

The Glorious Revolution and the Bill of Rights

Union of England and Scotland

The Growth of the Empire

The Industrial Revolution

The Census

Religious freedom

The Reform Acts

Partition of Ireland

Education and Social Welfare

The End of Empire

Britain in Europe

Geographical context

People in the four lands of Britain derive from a host of ancestral sources, notably:

* the prehistoric cultures which produced such impressive monuments as the stone circles of Avebury and Stonehenge;

* the ancient Celtic peoples who inhabited western and central Europe;

* the Romans who occupied Britain for over 300 years from the invasion in AD 43;

* the Angles, Saxons and Jutes - Germanic peoples who began raiding and settling in Britain from the third century;

* Scots from Ireland, who began to settle in what became known as Scotland in the sixth century (merging with the indigenous Picts to form one kingdom under Kenneth Macalpin in the ninth century);

* the Vikings from Scandinavia, who pillaged and settled areas of Britain and Ireland from the end of the eighth century; and

* the Normans from France, who invaded England in 1066.

The last thousand years have witnessed the assimilation of all these strands and many new ones besides, following on from global exploration, the expansion of trade and international rivalry, and the growth of the Empire.

At the same time political, social, economic and religious trends, pressures and crises have all evolved to create the beliefs, lifestyle and expectations that are prevalent among the people today.

Past events -- modern legacies

Roman rule

Roman rule was very influential in Britain's evolution, not least in the founding of towns and cities so many of which are familiar to the people today. For example, London and Lincoln largely preserve their Roman names - Londinium and Lindum Colonia respectively - while others, such as Chester, Gloucester and Colchester, betray their origins by the '-chester' or '-cester' ending. This name, derived from the Latin castra, was given to the Roman sites by the Anglo-Saxons.

Spread of Christianity

Christianity-which had been introduced to Britain under the Romans -- was reintroduced to pagan England in the sixth and seventh centuries. The Catholic Church sent St Augustine to preach and establish in 597. Since that time, Christianity has remained the predominant faith among people in Britain.

Reign of Alfred the Great

From the fifth century onwards of small kingdoms emerged in England. These gradually evolved into fewer, larger groupings - particularly Northumbria in the north, Mercia in the midlands and Wessex in the south.

During the ninth century Vikings from Scandinavia overran all these kingdoms except Wessex, where Alfred the Great, who reigned. from 871 to 899, successfully resisted the invaders. In the tenth century the Wessex dynasty came to rule the whole of England. The present Royal Family is partly descended from the royal line of Wessex.

Norman Conquest of England

The last successfu1 foreign invasion of England took place in 1066, when Duke William of Normandy defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings. The Norman Conquest led to closer links with the mainland of Europe. Normans and others from France came to settle, and French became the language of the nobility, bishoprics and the law courts for the next three centuries.

Magna Carta and the beginnings of Parliament

In 1215 King John signed Magna Carta (Great Charter) in the face of demands by barons. It secured feudal rights and established areas over which the King had no jurisdiction, and has been interpreted throughout English history as guaranteeing certain political and civil liberties.

The rest of the 13th century saw the development of Parliament as a gathering of feudal barons and representatives of counties and towns summoned by the King. By the end of the century, it had adopted its basic make-up of Lords and Commons, and it had established the right to approve taxation. It also soon acquired the right to approve new laws.

The English Reformation

Between 1534 and 1540 King Henry VIII of the Tudor dynasty broke with the Papacy in Rome, heralding the English Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England. Despite the suppression of the monasteries, the Church remained largely unaffected until the reign of his son Edward VI (1547-53), when Protestantism became the official religion of England.

Popular hostility to the Papacy remained widespread for centuries. In Ireland, differences between the religious traditions remain very marked to this day.

Union of England and Wales

The subjugation of Wales by the English had been completed in the late 13th century by Edward I, who gave his infant son, later Edward II, the title of Prince of Wales - still carried today by the monarch's eldest son. Between 1536 and 1542 Acts of Union integrated England and Wales administratively and legally and gave Wales representation in Parliament.

Civil War and the execution of Charles I

Hostility between Parliament and the Crown led to the outbreak of civil war in 1642. The eventual victory of the Parliamentary army heralded the execution of Charles I in 1649, the temporary abolition of the monarchy (until 1660), and the rule of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector.

The Glorious Revolution and Bill of Rights

In 1685 James II, a Roman Catholic, became king (succeeding his brother, Charles II). However, as he lost popularity for his autocratic rule and pro-Catholic policies, his Protestant Dutch son-in-law, William of Orange, was invited by leading politicians to intervene. The result was the bloodless or 'Glorious Revolution' in which James found himself practically without support and was overthrown. The crown was offered jointly to William and his wife Mary. The following year the Bill of Rights was passed, establishing the political supremacy of Parliament.

Union of England and Scotland

Scotland remained a separate kingdom throughout the Middle Ages, often at war with England. Realising the benefits of closer political and economic union, England and Scotland agreed in 1707 on a single Parliament for Great Britain. Scotland retained its own system of law and church settlement. The Union became strained in the first half of the 18th century, when two Jacobite uprisings attempted to restore the Catholic Stuart dynasty to the throne.

The growth of the Empire

The 17th and 18th centuries saw considerable overseas expansion by Britain. The foundation of the colonies in North America was followed by other major acquisitions, in competition with the French and other European powers.

Despite the North American colonies winning the War of Independence between 1775 and 1783, Britain continued to extend its rule through the 19th century over a large part of the world -- a process from which the modern Commonwealth eventually emerged.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution, which was a key development in shaping the face of modern Britain, took place between about 1760 and 1830. Britain was the first country in the world to industrialise, pioneering many technologies and large-scale production processes. In pursuit of work in the new mills and factories, people concentrated in the industrial centres which developed in particular areas of the country. The cities which rose to prominence as manufacturing and commercial centres, such as Birmingham, Manchester and Sheffield, remain among the principal centres of population today.

Transport was revolutionised in this period, with the construction of a wide network of canals in the late 18th century, many of which are still in use today. These were followed in the early 19th century by the advent of the railways, the world's first passenger railway opening between Stockton and Darlington in 1825.

Although slums developed in many of the emerging industrial towns, some of the more philanthropic mill and factory owners sought to provide better facilities for their employees. One of these model settlements for industrial workers was Saltaire near Bradford, built by Titus Salt in the late 19th century. As well as the mill and the workers' houses, Salt also built civic facilities such as the church and a school.

The Census

In 1801 the first census of population in England and Wales was held. There has been a census in Britain every ten years since that date, except in 1941 when war intervened. Census information is used by central and local government to help make financial allocations and plan services.

Religious freedom

Freedom of conscience in religious matters was achieved gradually from the 17th century onwards. Laws discriminating against minority religious groups were administered less harshly and then finally repealed. Catholic emancipation in 1829 relieved Catholics in Britain of the legal and civil restrictions accumulated since the time of the English Reformation. Religious freedom for all people in Britain has since become an accepted right.

The Reform Acts

Today people in Britain take for granted the right to vote in national and local elections. However, at one time the vote was confined to a very narrow group of men.

The widening of the franchise started with the Reform Acts of 1832 and 1867, continued in 1884, 1918 and 1928, and was completed in 1969 when the minimum voting age was reduced to 18. The Ballot Act of 1872 gave voters the means to keep their vote secret -- an arrangement that has stood the test of time so well that even the official specification for the design of the ballot box is virtually identical to that of the late 19th century.

Partition of Ireland

The formal connection between Great Britain and Ireland dates from the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. In the late 1550s and early 1600s English and Scottish Protestants migrated to the northern province of Ulster, their religion setting diem apart from die other, indigenous Roman Catholic inhabitants of Ireland. In 1801 Ireland was unified with Great Britain, but Irish Nationalists continued to campaign in the 19th and early 20th centuries, for some measure of independence. At the same rime, the Protestant Unionist majority in the north resisted any moves towards Irish home rule. In 1921 the Anglo-Irish Treaty established the Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion, but Northern Ireland exercised its right to opt out and remain part of the United Kingdom.

Between 1922 and 1972 Northern Ireland was governed by a Parliament responsible for a range of local affairs. Following an upsurge in intercommunal violence in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was ruled directly by Westminster while successive British Governments sought to find a political settlement capable of commanding widespread support on both sides of the divided community.

As a result of multi-party talks which began in June 1996, the Belfast Agreement - more commonly referred to as the 'Good Friday Agreement' - was finally reached on Friday 10 April 1998. This led to the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly which is made up of 108 members elected by the people of the province.

Education and Social Welfare

The 1940s saw educational and social welfare developments, the broad principles of which are maintained today. In 1944 a new Education Act for England and Wales allowed for a great expansion of education provided by the State. A new Ministry of Education was empowered to develop a national education policy. Also, the school system was divided into two levels, primary and secondary, making secondary education to the age of 15 compulsory.

In 1942 the government-sponsored 'Beveridge report' proposed a comprehensive scheme of social insurance covering the whole community, forming the basis of much of the present social security system. Legislation in 1946 provided for the establishment of Britain's National Health Service (NHS), the most comprehensive medical care scheme of its time. The NHS has since provided a full range of mainly free medical services, available to all British residents regardless of their income.

The end of Empire

At the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 the British Empire had expanded to almost one-fifth of the world land mass and one-quarter of the world population. However, from that time it decentralised. Self-governing dominions, such as Canada and Australia, were described in1926 as autonomous members of the 'British Commonwealth of Nations'. Most other colonies, beginning with India and Pakistan, were granted independence by Britain after 1945, and most of them joined the Commonwealth. Immigration from former territories in the Caribbean and the South Asian sub-continent was substantial in the 1950s and 1960s, forming the basis of the minority ethnic population in Britain today.

Britain in Europe

At the end of the Second World War in 1945 the economies of most European countries were in ruins. In addition, the then Soviet Union's Communist influence was expanding. In the face of these challenges, the countries of Western Europe sought to co-operate in their reconstruction and to organise themselves in such a way that wars between them would not recur.

Out of the consequent negotiations emerged what is now termed the European Union - an association of sovereign nations, initially comprising six member states in the 1950s but expanding progressively over the years to the current membership of 25. Britain joined in 1973 and its links with its European Union partners have since become ever more closely integrated, influencing the lives of all its citizens.

QUESTIONS

How did the British people evolve?

What was the Magna Carta? What were the origins of Parliament?

What were the causes behind the English Reformation?

What was the historical significance of the Glorious Revolution and the Bill of Rights?

How did the Industrial Revolution change the face of contemporary Britain?

When was the Welfare state established in Britain?

What was the political aftermath of the breaking down of the British Empire?

What is Britain^,s role in modern Europe?

IV. POPULATION OF BRITAIN TODAY: THE SOCIAL FRAMEWORK

Ethnic Composition

Language Variation

Demographic Trends

Age and Sex Structure

Distribution of Population

The Family. Marriage and Divorce

The Status of Women

Ethnic minorities

Living Standards

Housing

Language variation

English is the main language spoken in Britain, although with many regional variations in terms of accept and phraseology. It is also one of the most widely used in the world; recent estimates suggest that over 337 million people speak it as their first language, with a similar number speaking it as a second language. Modern English derives primarily from one of the dialects of Anglo-Saxon, but has been very greatly influenced by other languages over time.

About one-fifth of the population of Wales speak the Welsh language, which is of Celtic origin. They are concentrated in the rural north and west, where Welsh remains the first language of most of the population. Both the Government and voluntary groups have taken steps to revive the use of Welsh. Bilingual education in schools is encouraged and there has been an extended use of Welsh for official purposes and in broadcasting. In the context of dealing with public authorities and the administration of justice in Wales, Welsh and English are treated on an equal basis.

Gaelic, also a language of Celtic origin, is still spoken by some 70,000 people in Scotland; the greatest concentration of Gaelic speakers is in the islands of the Hebrides. People in the central lowlands of Scotland have for centuries spoken Scots, a dialect derived from the Northumbrian branch of Old English. This has its own recognised literary tradition and has seen a revival in poetry in the 20^th century. Many words and phrases from the Scots tongue are retained in the everyday English which is spoken throughout Scotland.

Many other languages are spoken by the minority ethnic communities living in Britain.

Demographic trends

Britain has a population of about 59 million people, the 17^th largest in the world. The great majority, 49.3 million, live in England; Scotland has just over 5 million people, Wales 2.9 million and Northern Ireland about 1.7 million.

The population density is well above the European Union average. England is the most densely populated, with 373 people per sq km, and Scotland the least, with 67 people per sq km. The great majority of people are concentrated in towns and cities, although there has been a trend, especially in the capital London, for people to move away from congested urban centres into the suburbs.

In 1997 there were 726,000 live births in Britain, compared with 633,000 deaths. The birth rate is relatively low at 12.3 live births per 1,000 population. This in part due to a trend towards later marriage and towards postponing births.

The average age of women having children has risen to over 28 years in England and Wales. There is also a greater preference for smaller families than in the past, which has led to a significant decline in the proportion of families with four or more children. In addition, more widespread and effective contraception has mode it easier to plan families.

Life expectancy for men in Britain is about 74 years and for women 79 years (compared with 49 years for men and 52 years for women at the start of the century). The general death rate is 10.4 per 1,000 of the population. There has been a decline in mortality at most ages, particularly among children, reflecting better nutrition, rising living standards, medical advances and improved health measures, wider education and the smaller size of families.

Deaths caused by circulatory diseases (including heart attacks and strokes) now account for nearly half of all deaths, and mortality from heart disease in England and Wales remains high compared with that of other development countries.

The next largest cause of death is cancer, which is responsible for one-quarter of deaths. There is a national health strategy for addressing the major causes of premature death and preventable illness among people in Britain.

Britain has one of the highest marriage and divorce rates in the European Union. There are 309,000 marriages each year in Britain, of which about 40 per cent are remarriages of one or both parties. Of the population ages 16 or over in England and Wales 55 per cent are married, 28 per cent are single, 9 per cent are widowed and 8 per cent are divorced. The average age for first marriages in England and Wales is now 29 for men and 27 for women.

In England and Wales there are about 14 divorces for every 1,000 married couples.

The average age of spouses at the time of divorce is now about 38 for men and just over 35 for women. Divorce rates are lower in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In common with many other Western European countries, there has been an increase in cohabitation (unmarried couples living together) in Britain. About 14 per cent of non-married men and women aged 16 and over in Great Britain are cohabiting. There is some evidence of a growing number of stable non-married relationships. Over half of all births outside marriage (which account for over one third of live births in Britain) are registered by both parents giving a single address as their place of residence.

Elderly people

One of the most significant changes in the age structure of Britain's population over the last 30 years has been the increasing proportion of people over retirement age (65 for men and 60 for women) - some 11 million today, and their numbers continued to grow. This has important implications for social services provision into the next century.

Most elderly people in Britain live healthy and independent lives. Nearly all want to be a part of the community, living in their own homes. Many view their later years as an opportunity to do the things they never previously had the time for, or to take on new interests or challenges. For instance, adult educational and recreational courses run by local authorities throughout Britain are well attended by older people, and some sports, such as bowls, attract many elderly participants.

Yet a lot of older people - perhaps living alone, in poor health or disabled in some way - have important needs. In addition to the large amount of willing help from relatives, neighbours and friends, practical support for Britain's elderly people is provided by the social services authorities, voluntary organisations and, to a lesser extent, the private sector.

Services for elderly people are designed to help them live at home whenever possible. In fact, only about 5 per cent of people aged over 65 in Britain live in institutional accommodation. These services may include advice and help from visiting social workers, assistance with domestic chores and the provision of meals in the home. Day centres and lunch clubs are very popular among older people as they provide, in addition to a hot meal and facilities such as a laundry, an important focal point for social contact. They may also offer leisure and educational activities, many of which are run by older people themselves.

Local authorities and voluntary organisations operate special transport services to enable less mobile elderly people to get to day centres or to visit the shops, the doctor, family or friends. There are concessionary fares for resident pensioners on most bus services, and special discounts are available on coach and rail travel.

Special housing needs for the elderly are met by local authorities, housing associations, voluntary bodies and the private sector. Sheltered housing schemes may consist of groups of flats or small houses where older people can live independently but still have the support of a resident warden. For those people who are too infirm to continue to live independently there are residential homes providing full board, or nursing homes offering 24-hour personal care.

Young people

The home is the central focus of most young people's lives in Britain, particularly for those who are still attending school. The majority rely upon their home environment as a place of security and upon their parents as the main providers of food, money and other necessary amenities for life - as well as general advice. Young people spend a large proportion of their leisure time in the home with other members of their family or with friends.

After the home, school is the main social environment where children not only receive their formal education but also develop their identities within peer groups. All school children in Britain are encouraged to take up activities which complement their academic and vocational education and help to identify their individual talents, such as sports, drama, music and creative pursuits. Many of these from part of school curricula.

The personal development and informal social education of young people aged 11-25 is also promoted by the Youth Service in Britain. The Service is a partnership between statutory authorities and a large number of voluntary organisations. A recent survey estimated that nearly 6 million young people in this age group are either current or past participants in the Service.

Youth clubs and centres are the most common types of Youth Service provision, encouraging their members to participate in sport, cultural and creative activities, and community service. Some also provide information and counselling. Youth clubs may be branches of national or international bodies or they may be entirely local institutions.

There are many religious groups and churches with specialist youth organisations, as well as uniformed organisations such as the Guides and Scouts Associations and Boys' and Girls' Brigades.

Finance is provided by many foundations and trusts for activities which develop the latent talents of Britain's young people. The Prince's Trust and the Royal Jubilee Trust, for example, help individuals and organisations active in youth-oriented projects related to urban deprivation, unemployment, homelessness and young offending. The Duke of Edinburgh's Awards Scheme challenges young people to achieve certain standards in community service, expeditions, social and practical skills and physical recreation.

Age and Sex Structure

The total population has remained relatively stable over the last decade. The proportion of young people aged under 16 fell steadily in the early 1980s, but numbers in this age group have increased slightly in the last two decades. The proportion of elderly people, especially those aged 85 and over, has continued to increase. The age distribution of the British population in mid-1990 was estimated as follows:

20.2 per cent under 16 years of age;

64.1 per cent between 16 and 64 years; and

15.7 per cent aged 65 and over.

Some 18 per cent of the population were over the normal retirement ages (65 for men and 60 for women) compared with 15 per cent in 1961.

There is ratio of about 105 females to every 100 males. There are about 5 per cent more male than female births every year. Because of the higher mortality of men at all ages, however, there is a turning point, at about 50 years of age, beyond which the number of women exceeds the number of men. This imbalance increases with age so that there are many more women among the elderly.

Distribution of Population

The density of population in Britain is well above the European Community average of about 145 per sq km. Since the nineteenth century there has been a trend, especially in London, for people to move away from congested urban centres into the suburbs. There has also been a geographical redistribution of the population from Scotland and the northern regions of England to the South East, East Anglia, the South West and the East Midlands in recent decades. An increase in the rate of retirement migration has also occurred, the main recipient areas, where in some towns the retired constitute over one-quarter of the population, being the south coast of England and East Anglia.

Women

The economic and domestic lives of women have been transformed in the twentieth century. These changes are due partly to the removal of much of sex discrimination in political and legal rights. At the heart of women's changed role has been the rise in the number of women, especially married women, at work. With later marriages and the availability of effective contraception there has been a decline in family size. Women are involved in childbearing for a shorter time and this, together with technological advances which have made housework less onerous and time-consuming, has made it easier for women with children to combine child-rearing with paid employment. The growth of part-time and flexible working patterns, and training schemes, allows more women to take advantage of employment opportunities.

Women make up more than two-fifths of the workforce. The proportion of married women working outside the home has increased to two-thirds of those between the ages of 16 and 59, a quarter of the total labour force compared with only 4 per cent in 1921. Married women are most likely to be in full-time work if they are aged 16 to 29 with no children. Over two-fifths of all women in employment work part-time, representing almost nine-tenths of all part-time workers. By the mid-1990s the numbers of young people entering the labour market has declined substantially and it the resulting shortfall in the labour force is met to a considerable extent by the recruitment of more married women.

There is still a significant difference between men's and women's earnings, but equal pay legislation which came into force in 1975 has helped to narrow the gap; in 1990 women's average hourly earnings were only 77 per cent of men's, despite a progressive rise in women's hourly rates over the last three years. Women's wages remain relatively low because they tend to work in the lower-paid sector of the economy and work fewer hours than men because of their domestic commitments. A major reform in the taxation of women came into effect in 1990, when their earnings began to be taxed separately rather than being treated as part of their husbands' income for tax purposes.

Equal Opportunities

The Sex Discriminations Acts 1975 and 1986 make discrimination, in certain circumstances, between men and women unlawful in employment, education, training and the provision of housing, goods, facilities and services. Discriminatory job recruitment advertisements are also unlawful. Complaints of discrimination in employment are dealt with by industrial tribunals; other complaints are taken before county courts in England and Wales or the Sheriff Court in Scotland. Under the Equal Pay Act 1970, as amended in 1984, women in Great Britain are entitled to equal pay with men when doing work that is the same or broadly similar, or work which is of equal value. Parallel legislation on sex discrimination and equal pay is in operation in Northern Ireland.

The Equal Opportunities Commission, set up in 1975 (1976 in Northern Ireland under separate laws), has powers to enforce the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts. Its statutory duties are to work towards eliminating sex discrimination and to promote equality of opportunity. The Commission advises people of their rights under the Acts and may give financial or other assistance to help individuals conduct a case before a court or tribunal. It is empowered to carry out investigations and issue notices requiring discriminatory practices to stop. The Commission also keeps legislation under review and submits proposals for amending it to the Government.

Ethnic and National Minorities

For centuries people from overseas have settled in Britain, to escape political or religious persecution or in search of better economic opportunities.

The Irish have long formed a large section of the population. Jewish refugees who came to Britain towards the end of the nineteenth century and in the 1930s were followed by other European refugees after 1945. Substantial immigration from the Caribbean and the South Asia subcontinent dates principally from the 1950s and 1960s. There are also groups from the United States and Canada, as well as Australians, Chinese, Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Italians and Spaniards. More recently people from Latin America, Indo-China and Sri Lanka have sought refuge in Britain.

In 1989-91, according to the results of a sample survey, the average ethnic minority population of Great Britain numbered about 2.7 million (some 4.9 per cent of the total population), of whom 46 per cent were born in Britain. Just over half of the ethnic minority population was of Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin; less than one-fifth was of Afro-Caribbean ethnic origin; and over one in ten was of mixed ethnic origin.

The sample survey also indicated that the proportion of men of working age in Great Britain who were economically active was higher among the white population (89 per cent) than among those from other ethnic groups (84 per cent of Afro-Caribbeans and Indians and 75 per cent of those of Pakistani/Bangladeshi origin). Among women the variation was greater: 76 per cent of those from the Afro-Caribbean ethnic group were economically active, compared with 72 per cent in the white group, 60 per cent in the Indian group and only 25 per cent in the Pakistani/Bangladeshi group.

Alleviating Racial Disadvantage

Although many members of the black and Asian communities are concentrated in the inner cities, where there are problems of deprivation and social stress, progress has been made over the last 20 years in tackling racial disadvantage in Britain.

Many individuals have achieved distinction in their careers and in public life and the proportion of ethnic minority members occupying professional and managerial positions is increasing. In law, for example, an estimated 6 per cent of practising barristers are of ethnic minority origin. In April 1992 there were six ethnic minority Members of Parliament, and the number of ethnic minority councillors in local government is growing. There has also been an expansion enterprise, and numerous self-help projects in ethnic minority communities have been established. Black competitors have represented Britain in a range of sporting activities, and ethnic minority talents in the arts and in entertainment have increasingly been recognised.

The principal means of combating disadvantage is through the economic, environmental, educational and health programmes of central government and local authorities. There are also special allocations, mainly through Home Office grants and the Urban Programme, which channel extra resources into projects of specific benefit to ethnic minorities. These include, for example, the provision of specialist teachers for children needing English language tuition, business support services and measures to revive local economies and improve the inner city environment. Cultural and recreational schemes and the health and personal social services also take account of the particular needs of ethnic minorities.

The Government is encouraging the development of black businesses in inner city areas through the Ethnic Minority Business Initiative. It is also promoting equal opportunities for ethnic minorities through training, including greater provision for unemployed people who need training in English as a second language.

Ethnic Minorities and the Police

In recognition of the tensions that can arise between the police and ethnic minorities, there is statutory consultation between the police and the community. In addition, liaison work is undertaken in schools.

Police training in race relations has received particular attention. A specialist unit, launched in 1989 and run by an independent company, provides police forces with practical help and support in community and race relations training.

Campaigns are run by the police to encourage the recruitment of officers from the ethnic minority communities. Racially discriminatory behaviour by officers has been made an offence under the police discipline code. All police force are aware of the need to respond to reports of racially motivated crime as a priority.

Race Relations Act 1976

Equal opportunities policies are backed up by legislation against racial discrimination. The Race Relations Act 1976, which strengthened previous legislation passed in the 1960s, makes discrimination unlawful on groups of colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origin in the provision of goods, facilities and services, in employment, in housing and in advertising. The 1976 Act also gave complainants direct access to civil courts and, in the case of employment complaints, to industrial tribunals.

It is a criminal offence to incite racial hatred under the provisions of the Public Order Act 1986.

Commission for Racial Equality

The Commission for Racial Equality was established by the 1976 Act. It has power to investigate unlawful discriminatory practices and to issue non-discrimination notices, requiring such practices to cease. It has an important educational role and has issued codes of practice in employment, education, health care and housing. It also provides the main advice to the general public about the Race Relations Act and has discretion to assist individuals with their complaints about racial discrimination. In 1991 the Commission registered 1,655 applications for assistance and successfully handled 137 cases. It can also undertake or fund research.

The Commission supports the work of over 80 race equality councils, which are autonomous voluntary bodies set up in most areas with a significant ethnic minority population to promote equality of opportunity and good relations at the local level. It helps pay the salaries of the race equality officers employed by the council, most of whom also receive funds from their local government authorities, and gives grants to ethnic minority self-help groups and to other projects run by or for the benefit of their communities.

Living standards

Marked improvements in the standard of living for people in Britain have taken place during the 20^th century. According to the United Nations, in 1997 Britain ranked fifteenth out of 175 countries on a human development index that combines life expectancy, education levels and basic purchasing power.

Earnings from employment remain the main source of household income for most people, although other sources such as private pensions and annuities have become more important. Disposable income - the amount of money people have available to spend after income tax, National Insurance and contributions to pension schemes have been deducted - is now at its highest-ever level. Since the 1970s there has been little change in the distribution of marketable wealth, half of which is owned by the richest 10 per cent of people. A large proportion of personal wealth in Britain is in residential property. There has also been growth in share ownership in recent years.

Average weekly household spending in Britain is about ?311. Food and housing costs constitute 18 and 16 per cent of this. Transport and leisure pursuits account for about 16 per cent each.

Housing

Largely depending on their means, people in Britain live in a diverse range of accommodation ranging from country mansions to single rooms or hostels in the inner cities. The majority, however, live in houses and (to a lesser extent) flats, either as owner-occupiers or as tenants paying rent. About 19 per cent of houses are detached, 31 per cent are semi-detached and 29 per cent are terraced. Purpose-built flats or maisonettes make up 15 per cent of the housing stock and converted flats or rooms account for 5 per cent.

Owner-occupation more than doubled between 1961 and 1997. The number of owner-occupied homes amounts to over 14 million in England. Most people buy their homes with a mortgage loan, with the property as security. Mortgages are available from building societies, banks and other financial institutions.

There are some 3.6 million houses and flats in the public housing sector. Most of the public housing in Great Britain is provided by local housing authorities. Over one-third of local authority tenants live in purpose-built flats or maisonettes, one-third in terraced houses and about one-quarter in semi-detached houses. Most have the right to buy the homes they occupy if they wish.

Housing associations, which are non-profit-making, are now the main providers of additional low-cost housing for rent and for sale to those on low incomes and in the greatest housing need. The housing association sector is expanding rapidly; associations now own, manage and maintain over 950,000 homes and about 65,000 hostel and special needs bed-spaces in Great Britain, providing homes for well over a million people.

Almost 10 per cent of households are rented from private landlords.